WORTH NOTING; How Many Governors Does It Take ?

Some numbers are well known around Trenton: 40 (membership of the State Senate), 80 (lawmakers in the General Assembly), 973-645-2700 (telephone number of the corruption-busting United States Attorney Christopher J. Christie).

But last Tuesday, the morning of Jon S. Corzine's inauguration, there was some confusion about another figure: precisely what was Mr. Corzine's numerical rank on the list of the state's governors.

In most news accounts since the election, Mr. Corzine has been termed the state's 52nd governor. But there was some uncertainty earlier this month after the Legislature passed a measure that removed the word "acting" from former Gov. Richard J. Codey's title.

So in some quarters Mr. Codey was considered the 52nd governor and Mr. Corzine the 53rd. Indeed, as of last week, one of Mr. Corzine's campaign Web site's referred to him as the state's 53rd chief executive.

The bewilderment did not end there. The same legislation that changed Mr. Codey's title also did the same for any governor who had served 180 days in an acting capacity. By that definition, Donald T. DiFrancesco, who served after Christie Whitman's resignation, would also take a spot on the list, pushing Mr. Corzine down to 54th.

So what is the most accurate way to characterize Mr. Corzine's place on the list?

"He would be 52nd elected governor," said Albert Porroni, chief counsel for the State Office of Legislative Services and perhaps the most qualified arbiter of such questions.